Lingerie controversy - undies in the news this week!

Ladies in lingerie

It’s been a week of hot heads and high words around women’s underwear this week!  Perhaps the hottest - and least controversial - story is the one that featured Lindsay Lohan out partying with E.L. James of Fifty Shades of Grey fame. Yes, one of the wildest ladies on the planet was out and about with the leading erotica writer … not only that, Lindsay was wearing black lace lingerie and E.L. sported a mask. Can we be totally honest? We think our Princesse Suabi mask is prettier by far than the one E.L. wore … the delicate touches of gold in our design are really flattering and the lace detailing is more feminine and mysterious than a solid mask, which, when worn in public can give off more of a Zorro vibe than a sensual one!

As for Lindsay, her cute underwear was part of a London Fashion Week jaunt, not a failure to remember to put her outwear on. One of the most intriguing rumours emerging earlier this year was the Lindsay might be asking E.L. James to write her memoir - we can’t imagine anybody better to bring us the scandals and excitements of Lindsay’s life so far!

Lingerie is not a crime

Franchise brand Tezenis came under fire on Twitter this week, after an Oxford Street shop window displayed a pair of Tezenis knickers with the message ‘crime scene’ printed on them, as if they were draped with yellow police tape. The backlash was fast and furious, with many people taking to social media to comment on the connotations of rape that the panties suggested, and also saying that they found the underwear ‘gross’ and ‘sexist’.  Many commentators highlighted the way that sexual violence appeared to be condoned by the slogan.

While the company has refused to talk about the garment, in a statement it released soon after the uproar began it said that the item had been removed from the store and would not be available to purchase online.

Hi jinks on high!

Good old VietJet are at it again. A ‘test’ advertising campaign featured Vietnamese beauty queens in yellow and red bikinis, thigh highs and red high heels, acting as cabin crew. Stills leaked from the ad caused an outcry, not least because of last year’s VietJet stunt which led to a £100,000 fine for the airline. On that occasion a bunch of bikini sporting beauty queens promenaded down the aisle of a packed plane - in the air - and handing out teddies to delighted looking male passengers.

One reason for the kerfuffle was the the song to which the beauty queens were strutting had the lyric ‘I’m crazy for banana’ which is suggestive to say the least, more seriously, there were concerns about whether safety regulations had been breached. Whatever else you say about VietJet, they’re really good at gaining publicity - and choosing underwear!

Women and men and underwear - our week of weird and wonderful lingerie stories

Saudi lingerie swoop

Months ago we reported on a story about lingerie shops being forced to hire Saudi female shop assistants. This week, 27 (yes, 27!) lingerie shops were closed in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia because they had failed to employ local women.

The regulations, brought in at the beginning of the year, state that only Saudi women can sell women’s items and that a failure to replace male staff with female in lingerie shops could mean both shutting the shops and taking action against the men working in them. As a result of a series of raids, twenty shops in Jeddah were also shut down for violating the ‘ladies only’ lingerie rule. The new legislation is designed to try and ensure employment for local graduates and particularly for women, so as to reduce dependence on foreign workers.

Man pants not hero wear!

No, it’s not just an excuse to show you Dwayne Johnson in his pants - we don’t need any excuse to do that, we just do it anyway! So, back to the point. The UK advertising watchdog has stopped an underwear brand from running an advert, despite the hi tech pants having the backing of Sir Richard Branson. Wireless Armour says its ‘mesh of pure silver’ encases the wearer in a ‘cage of metal’ that apparently protects male fertility by blocking electromagnetic radiation from wireless devices carried in the male pocket.

The brand was called ‘underpants for superhereos’ by Sir Richard (hence Dwayne, who is currently  in cinemas as Hercules, a super hero - see, there is a reason for that picture!) but the ASA says the cited research doesn’t back up the claim that mobile phone radiation can negatively impact male fertility. Therefore, it says, the campaign must be withdrawn until adequate evidence is produced to substantiate the claims Wireless Armour make.

Bearded lady underwear

That warbling Eurovision winner, Conchita Wurst, has debuted in the underwear industry in a big way! She began by taking the catwalk with Jean Paul Gaultier in the summer, and now the 25 year old has appeared in a shoot with Karl Lagerfeld and Ashleigh Good, who is currently pregnant.

The shots show that Conchita has no problem getting into racy undies and, in one shot, is entwined with Lagerfeld himself who describes the singer as 'really hav[ing] a voice…’ he also said, ‘She has done something that's never been done before. We have all heard of "bearded ladies" but no one has ever seen a bearded man posing as a lady. This brings new meaning to the term “drag”’

And if you’re loving the Conchita look, we recommend the fabulous Magic Instinct body by Antinea … sleek, svelte and with beautiful lace panel inserts, this body is a real winner - a bit like Conchita herself!